DoD Kidney Cancer, Concept Award | W81XWH 21 KCRP CA

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81XWH 21 KCRP CA

The DoD Kidney Cancer Research Program (KCRP) Concept Award (FY21) is a small, high-impact funding opportunity designed to spark bold, early-stage ideas in kidney cancer research. It is built specifically for highly innovative, untested concepts that could open up entirely new directions in the field rather than extend an already established research plan. A key feature is that preliminary data are not allowed, which signals that the program is intentionally reserving space for high-risk, high-reward thinking, including projects that arise from unexpected or serendipitous observations. Applicants are expected to clearly explain what makes the concept genuinely new and how it could meaningfully expand what is known about kidney cancer or create a distinctly novel investigative path. The expectation is that, even if the work is exploratory, it can produce enough early findings to support a stronger, later-stage proposal to other funding mechanisms.

The research must also be relevant to active-duty Service Members, Veterans, military beneficiaries, and/or the broader American public. In practice, this means proposals should connect their scientific rationale and potential impact to patient populations and needs that matter to the Military Health System and the public at large, whether through disease burden, clinical gaps, or translational potential. The program also strongly encourages collaborations, particularly partnerships that link military or Veteran institutions with non-military organizations. The intent is to combine complementary strengths such as access to unique patient populations, specialized infrastructure, and differing scientific perspectives to accelerate progress in areas that could benefit the Warfighter, military families, and civilian patients.

From a review standpoint, the opportunity uses a blinded review process in which reviewers do not see the identities of the Principal Investigator, collaborators, or their institutions. This is meant to keep the evaluation focused on the idea itself, the quality of the approach, and the potential to shift the field, rather than the reputation of the team or organization. Applicants therefore need to make the narrative and logic of the proposal stand on their own, with particularly clear explanations of innovation, feasibility within the small budget, and the potential payoff if the concept works.

Awards are issued as federal assistance agreements, which can be either grants or cooperative agreements. Which one is used depends on how involved the Department of Defense expects to be during the project. If no substantial DoD involvement is anticipated, the award is typically a grant; if substantial involvement is expected, it becomes a cooperative agreement, and the award will specify what that involvement looks like (for example, collaboration or participation during the research). The final award type and the start date are determined during the negotiation process rather than being fixed upfront.

The funding level is intentionally modest to match the “concept” purpose. Direct costs for the entire period of performance may not exceed $75,000, with additional details governed by the program’s funding restrictions. The DoD planned an overall allocation of roughly $1.44 million to support about 12 awards, but the actual number of funded projects depends on federal fund availability, the number of submissions, and the outcome of scientific and programmatic review. While awards were expected to be made no later than September 30, 2022, the underlying FY21 funds associated with awards were anticipated to remain available for use only for a limited time, with an expiration date of September 30, 2027.

Finally, the opportunity points applicants toward the recommendations of the congressionally mandated Metastatic Cancer Task Force, which was created to accelerate clinical and translational research aimed at extending survival for patients with advanced or recurrent cancer. While proposals must still fit within this Concept Award’s rules and FY21 KCRP priorities, applicants are encouraged to align ideas with those broader metastatic cancer acceleration goals when relevant. Overall, this mechanism is best understood as a focused “idea incubator” for kidney cancer: small-budget, no-preliminary-data, high-risk projects that could generate the first credible evidence for a completely new line of investigation.

• The Department of Defense, Dept. of the Army -- USAMRAA in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "DoD Kidney Cancer, Concept Award" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.420.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 23, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 13, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 12 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for W81XWH 21 KCRP CA

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